Story of Fei – The Gallant

“The walls have been breached!!! Retreat!!! Fall back to the castle!!!” The captain yelled over the death throes of his men. The city of Laile was burning. After the fifth continuous day of regular bombardment from siege weaponry the city’s defenses had finally given away and the once impenetrable walls of Laile no longer stood tall in pride and vanity. The city that had never seen the face of intruders into its walls was now being overrun with hordes of masses thirsting for the blood of its people.

The city of Laile, the once proud and power drowned capital of the Jarahkal Empire was now finally being decimated to dust. The 6th Jarahkal emperor, engulfed by pride and power had long forgotten the brave and honorable ways of his ancestors. He cared neither for the people nor the empire. His only concern was to live a life of vanity, lust, greed and indolence. Soon corruption and misuse of power ran rampant through out his empire. It wasn’t long till the lack of concern of the emperor gave rise to many rebellious movements through out his empire. The Jarahkal Empire due to its prosperity always attracted the jealous eyes of its neighbours and now as the Empire was slowly corroding from the inside and the its men loosing their morale with each rebellion, neighboring countries soon began attacking and in no time conquered or bribed their way through the resistance and now stood blood thirsty before the rich and prosperous city of Laile. Truly greed and jealousy when mixed together derives humans insane and in his insanity he does not consider the number of other lives he mows down to achieve what his heart desires.

The defenders of Laile fought gallantly but it was all in vain. They lacked leadership… they lacked the presence of their king on the field… they lacked the will to fight… “We are going to lose… the city will fall… nothing we can do can stop these monsters from killing us…” was a common phrase in the ranks of the military of Laile now. After the 4th day of siege many of the men had either retreated or secretly joined the enemy. But even in these darkened time captain Fei remained loyal to the throne of Laile. Rescued from utter poverty and destruction by the 5th emperor, Fei had joined the military and soon earned the title of “the terror of Laile.” His mere presence on the battlefield was enough to make the knees of his enemies shatter.

But even Fei on this day, have had enough. Ashes sifted from where once the beautiful outer city of Laile stood and blood bathed the inner city in a deep shade of red. They were safe for now as the enemy robbed the city and enjoyed the spoils the city of Laile had to offer. Every now and then an agonizing scream would be heard of a citizen who failed to make it into the sanctity of the castle. The captain closed his eyes. For he knew soon the enemy would tire of the plundering and pursue their true goal again. Once more will they attack and break through the gates. He only wondered how long did they have… The horrors of war were now dawning upon him. He looked around at his men who dejectedly stared at the castle gates thinking the same thing he was… Men… if that was a word to describe them… Some of them were so young that they haven’t lived to see more than 15 springs and some of them were so old that they had lived well past their prime. Many had never held weapons before. Only a small faction of useful soldiers was left alive. He shivered upon the thought of watching a man slaughter… He knew what he had to do.

“Emperor Riise… Have you heard nothing I have said? The kingdom burns… The throne of Laile is about to fall and you are asking for a girl?” Fei said as he stared at the emperor in disbelief.

“Fei… Fei… Our loss is imminent… so why fight it? You want me to go out there and fight with the soldiers? Ridiculous! It will alter nothing… Fate has spoken there is nothing we, men can do about it. So, my advice to you would be to get a beautiful girl, enjoy the time you have before the enemy breach the castle gates as well and then come and escape with me through the secret passages of the castle. I shalt need a strong escort.”

“What about the honor of your ancestors?”

“Bah, who cares what a bunch of dead people think of me? Now go and bring me a beautiful virgin! I wish to feel like a man.”

The final line had been drawn. Fei drew out his sword. “You wish to feel like a man? Come let me honor that request with cold hard steel!”

“Fei have you gone mad? I am the EMPEROR! You swore your loyalty to me!”

“You’re wrong I swore my loyalty to your father and the city of Laile, and it is that loyalty that compels me to draw the blood of a citizen of Laile. Many a times this sword has tasted the blood of generals, commanders and princes but never a king… Even though I am to stain it with your blood I have no choice…”

The emperor fell to his knees and started to grovel. “Fei what do you want? Riches? Women? The throne? You can have it all… to damnation with the people and the city. Spare my life; you haven’t much time; its time to escape… I can already hear them trying to knock the gates down.”

“I rather die in honor than to run like a coward” Fei said as with a swift movement of the sword, he brought the Jarahkal line of emperors to an end.

“Captain, the gates won’t hold out much longer. What are the orders of the Emperor?”

“There is no emperor… I have slain that pathetic low life known to us as the emperor.” Fei said but his voice was drowned out by the hustle of soldiers running around frantically.

“What sir?”

“I SAID I HAVE SLAIN THE EMPEROR!” Fei shouted.

All of a sudden everyone stopped. There was no sound except that of the enemy banging heavy wood against the castle door.

Fei stared at the soldiers who just glared back at him, impervious of the existence of the external threat. “He rather wished to rape our people and flee than to fight and die with us. I rather die as a free man than to serve under a corrupt king. If I have done wrong, then come and take my life. I forfeit my life.”

“Doesn’t matter… It will take only a little time for them to break through and slaughter us all. So its better to die with you as our leader than that bastard.”

Fei glared at the morale less troops and slowly spoke, “You all are free… no more are you bounded by any promises made to the throne… No more are you subjected to the grotesque and corrupted filth calling themselves your masters… My brothers, today, you are your own masters! For that I request you to stand! Today the enemy stands at your gates lusting for your blood. They wish to destroy everything that we ever cherished… they wish to tear asunder everything that we ever loved… they walk our streets plaguing them with their very existence… they mutilate the corpses of our brethren who fought hard and fell in honor… It is for that honor I bid you to STAND! Stand and fight for everything that you hold dear… For now all I can see in your eyes is fear… Fear that this will be a man slaughter and you have lived your life awry. Nay my brothers… This won’t be a man slaughter… We will not die with the regret that we had wasted our life… For we will stand our ground and fight for everything that we hold dear! Mount your horses brethren if you wish to follow me into honor… if you wish to stare death right in the eyes and say nay, now is not the time… now is not the time for us but it is time for you to go away.” Fei raised his sword in the air as he mounted his horse. “Our numbers may be small but those with courage know no regret… they know not the meaning of the word retreat! RIDE WITH ME MY BRETHREN… I the TERROR OF LAILE COMMAND YOU RIDE WITH ME ON THIS RED DAY … TO DEATHHHH!!!” he yelled…

“TO DEATH” The men shouted back in unison.

“TO DEATHHHH!!!” Fei yelled again…

Roars of soldiers were heard as they mounted their horses ready to ride out towards what many would dub as certain suicide.

“OPEN THE GATES” Fei bellowed.

The gates of the castle swung open as Fei and his men stared at the enemy in the eye. Upon seeing such readiness of their prey, the enemy commander shouted, “Get in rank maggots.” But it was too late. The hands of his men shivered as they saw the fierceness and the fearlessness of their once so called prey… It was time for the hunters to become the hunted.

“For LAILE!” Fei yelled as he sounded the charge and pierced through the enemy ranks like an arrow out of a bow.

Human spirit is one of the greatest weapons that they possess. Normally, we underestimate our own selves but if we truly set out to achieve something nothing on this planet can stop us from getting it… At times like this even fate rewrites itself… That is what happened that day… The handful men of Laile stood their ground and defended what they believed in… It is at times like these even God pitches in to help…

The weather suddenly changed and a storm brewed tearing through the enemy ranks outside the city… It is said that the survivors of the raiders of Laile dub the army of Laile as the demons from hell. It was on this day Fei was given a new name… “Emperor Fei – The Gallant.” This name was given not by his men… but by the enemy.

Advertisements

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

This entry was posted on March 2, 2010 at 17:12 and is filed under Stories.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.